Bad news for Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen. The lefty is headed to the disabled list with a right oblique strain according to quotes from GM Dan Duquette per MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko.
Duquette anticipates that Chen will be on the shelf for “more than a couple weeks,” which means the Birds will be without their most effective starter for an extended period of time. Chen is 3-3 with a 3.04 ERA over 47 1/3 innings in eight starts this season. He’s held opponents to a .260/.309/.358 slash, has recorded ten double plays and a beautiful 2.25 K/BB ratio.
Let the rotation shuffle begin. Jair Jurrjens has an opt-out on June 15, but he surrendered five earned runs at Triple-A against the Syracuse Chiefs today. Jake Arrieta‘s last start was skipped due to shoulder stiffness. Steve Johnson, who gave up six earned runs in four innings during his 2013 debut, could be another replacement option.
Some have speculated that maybe the O’s turn to Kevin Gausman, who is 1-4 with a 3.35 ERA in seven starts with the Double-A Bowie Baysox. I’m not sure their ready to bring up Gausman, but nothing would surprise me.
Tsuyoshi Wada will be making his first injury-rehab start on Thursday with the Tides. He’s eligible to come off the 60-day DL at the end of May.
I said it over the winter and I’ll say it again, the Orioles will go as far as their starting pitching will take them this season. Injuries are a part of baseball, if they can stay afloat for a month or so without Chen, I’m confident in their ability to make a run for October.
I was convinced that this was a ruse and that it was a matter of giving Chen a week off. This will test this team’s mettle and depth.
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Next man up……………….
Tommy “Big Game” Hunter? Would hate to create that hole in the bullpen, but probably easier to fill than a starter.
Now we will start to see if this 40 man roster and next man up philosophy is something that can work. I’d rather see Hunter come in for a spot start than Jurrjens or one of the others.
NO need to panic. Give Jair the ball and use the two off days to get things right. Gonzo should be back soon. Britton deserves another try. IF he falters or Gonzo is out longer, Wada is waiting in the wings. If these moves fail, package Jake, Stevie J., Patton and Alexi in a deal for Cliff Lee and Utley. Plenty of pieces in the system, make them work to your advantage. Tillman, Jair, Gonzo, Chen and Lee sound like a fearless rotation.
Where is my buddy Wink? This is Ed, Wink. Haven’t talked to you for awhile. See, guys like Wink who speak of guys like Flaherty having power potential then gets called out slink back into their hole. But hey Wink, me and you can have a beer after a softball game.
Agreed Willo it is way to early to panic and I don’t think Buck has that in his DNA anyway. But I don’t see the O’s going the trade route as you suggested, I think they will ride this current philosophy all the way to the end of the season.
Where is my buddy Wink at? This is Ed. Wink is the guy who said Buck likes Flahertys power potential. Well Wink, your power boy Flaherty went 0-4 today with 3 strikeouts and is now batting .133 on the year. It’s funny, after someone (me, Ed) calls out someone else (Wink) and they are proven wrong you don’t hear back from them. Lets go get some Budweisers Wink and have a friendly discussion over the Babe Ruthian power of Flaherty. I don’t want to prove you wrong on here nor argue with you but your comment was straight out of a Damon Runyan novel and for that ethical nonsense you spewed I had to take exception to it. So lets meet up and have a Bud and put this nonsense to rest. Let’s meet at Reckless Ricks buddy.